"The Gypsy Rover"

No personal notes.

From Wikipedia;

The Whistling Gypsy, sometimes known simply as The Gypsy Rover, is a well-known ballad copyrighted by Dublin songwriter, Leo Maguire in about 1950 . Though often alleged to be an imitation of folk song, notably of "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy," versions of this variant that are nearly identical to Maguire's supposed composition appeared in print in 1919, 1927, 1935, and 1937. [1] Dorothy Scarborough's 1937 book A Song Catcher In Southern Mountains: American Folk Songs of British Ancestry includes a version that includes most of the same words that Maguire claimed to have written, including the "ah-dee-do" chorus that appears only in this version of the gypsy/lady tale.[2]

For a great discussion on this, as well as general copyrights in trad/folk music, see; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10547

The Whistling Gyspy Rover

A gypsy rover came over the hill
Down through the valley so shady.
He whistled and he sang 'til the green woods rang
And he won the heart of a lady.

Ah-dee-doo-ah-dee-doo-dah-day
Ah-dee-doo-ah-dee-day-dee
He whistled and he sang 'til the green woods rang
And he won the heart of a lady.

She left her father's castle gate.
She left her own fine lover.
She left her servants and her state
To follow her gypsy rover.

She left behind her velvet gown
And shoes of Spanish leather
They whistled and they sang 'till the green woods rang
As they rode off together

Last night, she slept on a goose feather bed
With silken sheets for cover
Tonight she'll sleep on the cold, cold ground
Beside her gyspy lover

Her father saddled up his fastest stead
And roamed the valley all over.
Sought his daughter at great speed
And the whistlin' gypsy rover.

He came at last to a mansion fine
Down by the river Claydee.
And there was music and there was wine
For the gypsy and his lady.

"Have you forsaken your house and home?
Have you forsaken your baby?
Have you forsaken your husband dear
For a whistling gypsy rover?"

"He is no gypsy, my Father," she cried
"but Lord of these lands all over.
And I shall stay 'til my dying day
with my whistlin' gypsy rover."

Here's a website that claims it is a "Childe Ballad", and gives some alternative lyrics; http://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Gypsy_Rover.shtml